Passive liquid-column damping systems are known from the prior art, for example from U.S. Pat. No. 970,368, and are based on the operating principle that during vibrations in the liquid present in the liquid-column damping system, for instance a Newtonian fluid, the liquid column is moved and energy is dissipated by the effects of turbulence and the local pressure losses due to friction that form in the liquid columns or in the base region of the tank during vibration.
The basic principle of such a liquid-column damping system is also referred to as a Frahm antiroll tank, in recognition of the technology that can be traced back to the inventor Frahm. Such a tank operating according to this principle also forms the subject of the present invention.
Further embodiments of such a system are known from the prior art that comprise means for adjusting the damping and/or the natural frequency of such a liquid-column damping system. Such means comprise, for example, openings in the base region of the tank that limit flow between the two columns through the base region of the tank more or less, according to the degree of opening, means for adjusting the liquid level in the columns, means for adjusting the spacing between the columns of such a tank as well as optional means for forming a pressurized air cushion above the columns, meaning above the liquid level.
These measures known in the prior art have proven to be structurally complex and prone to errors, so that an object of the present invention is to provide means for adjusting the damping and/or the natural frequency of such a liquid-column damping system that function reliably and that can be realized on such a liquid-column damping system in a structurally favorable manner.